meatloaf

After writing on Facebook yesterday that I wanted meatloaf, and though I had tempting offers of someone else's leftovers or dinner at the end of a 10-hour drive, I found myself at the grocery store after work, recipe in hand.

A bit of background on this: 1) I couldn't find a recipe quickly that matched my idea of the meatloaf I had growing up (mom, you did put oatmeal in yours, right? I'll need that recipe if you have it somewhere), 2) I have been house-sitting for the last week, so had even less of an idea of what I had in my own house than I usually do.

All I really managed to buy was the meat. I forgot that I didn't have milk, that I only had two pieces of bread, and no mustard. So, here's the original list of ingredients and what I did instead (the whole recipe is here):

• 1 pound Lean Ground Beef - this I had
  
• 1 cup Milk- nope, 1 cup of water instead
  
• 1 whole Egg- check
  
• 3 slices Bread, Torn Up Into Small Pieces - kind of
  
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce - yep
  
• ½ Tablespoons Onion Powder (or 1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Onion) - went with the actual onion
  
• ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt - a few shakes of the salt shaker
  
• ½ teaspoons Dry Ground Mustard - nope, nor did I have real mustard. I used curry instead. It's yellow, right?
  
• ¼ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper - dumped some in from the little box
  
• ¼ teaspoons Hot Sauce - I added chili powder
  
• ⅛ teaspoons Garlic Powder - two dollops of real garlic
  
• ½ cups Ketchup - definitely had this
  
• ¼ cups Maple Syrup (or Brown Sugar) - sweet seemed weird after all the savory, so I skipped this
  

Verdict? It was/is meatloaf alright. Made my apartment smell yummy and went well with steamed broccoli. We'll see how it does for leftovers today. :)

chocolate, bacon, browned butter cookies

We had a Bake-Off of sorts at work recently, and though I knew I wouldn't be a match for pies and cakes, I decided to take the opportunity to make something strange from scratch. So I found a recipe for cookies with browned butter, three kinds of chocolate, and bacon. They were great, though a little time-intensive. This was a recipe I wanted to follow to the letter, making sure I had everything called for and prepped as directed. So yes, I shaved chocolate and cut chocolate and broke chocolate and browned butter and cooked bacon and cut bacon and stirred the pre-flour mixture for quite a few minutes. The whole experience in my tiny kitchen was quite enjoyable, though I need to remember that my largest cookie sheet, while appearing to fit inside my oven, doesn't actually allow the door to close all the way. I loved the cookies and I think others did, too. The most common reaction was, "do I see bacon in there?" That made me smile. Next time I"ll cook the bacon a little longer so it's crispier and maybe add a little more than is called for. And perhaps only use one or two kinds of chocolate instead of three.

The recipe is this one.

soup #4

Last night I made Mulligatawny Soup at the suggestion of my friend Kristin. And I only needed a few things from the farmer's market to make it happen. Carrots, onion, celery, and butter were the base to which was added flour, curry, chicken stock, grated apple, chicken, and basmati rice. Next time I'll dice the apples (as suggested) and add more rice. Also, because I started with a no-salt chicken stock, I ended up adding a lot of salt back in.

In attendance: Me, Jenny, Amanda, Lindsey, Jessica (Kristin got in in the leftovers)

Extra tidbits: bread was frozen from last week, but I didn't notice a difference

To spare: two more bowls. I finally only made a single batch and it worked out well this time.

P.S. the soup looked nothing like the picture in the link. Maybe because I never added heavy cream?

po-tay-toe salad

The only reason I can think of for making potato salad to bring to a church potluck on Sunday is that I had all the ingredients on-hand. Potatoes, celery, and onion from the farmer's market got sauced with mustard, Miracle Whip, dill, and a little garlic. It was a bit sharp, but yummy nonetheless. I had intended to add some hard-boiled eggs, but given that fact that I grew up with an egg cooker, I still cannot remember how to hard boil an egg on the stovetop. Discovering not one but three undercooked eggs while attempting to peel them is disgusting. But the potato salad turned out well and was entirely consumed by others at the meal.

B & B and a greasy spoon

I spent two days in Ludington this past weekend, bouncing back and forth between yummy B & B breakfast and dinners at a local greasy spoon. Toss in a little brandy while doing a puzzle and a peanut butter sandwich between hikes in the state park and you have a lovely example of the diversity of food the area had to offer.

deconstructed spaghetti

Last night I lightly sauteed zucchini in some olive oil, put it in the bottom of a bowl, poured some tomato garlic spaghetti sauce over it (thanks for that, Daniel!), added a little cheese, and topped it all with piping-hot pasta shells. This actually tasted amazing!

not my own

tonight I will be enjoying the culinary stylings of this place:

http://www.electriccheetah.com/

yum.

update: I had the Thanksgiving Salad (savory baked bread pudding, cranberry apple chutney, roasted turkey breast, and Mud Lake Greens with apple cider vinnagrette) and sweet potato fries with honey and dill aioli dipping sauces.

A.ma.zing.

soup #3

Last night I served Goulash (from tastykitchen.com, aka, "Feels and Smells Like My Nana's House Soup"). It consisted of ground beef, onion, green beans, carrots/peas/corn, and pasta. Could possible have done better with the spices. Chili powder maybe? Oregano? It ended up being an add your own kind of deal. Bread and butter also, of course.

In attendance: me, Amanda, Laura, Lindsey

Extra tidbits: A double batch was made at home in Lansing in a ginormous pot on mom's stove. Perhaps should have waited to add the pasta until close to the end. It got quite soggy and added sweetness I wasn't expecting.

To spare: an embarrassing amount. Plenty in the freezer for some other time and maybe some to take to work for sharing.

lotsa cake

Last night I make 6 9x13 cakes for a crowd of 120 people. I made 4 boxes of chocolate swirled with 2 boxes of yellow. 18 eggs, 7-1/3 cups of water, and 4 cups of unsweetened applesauce (yes, instead of the oil) later, they were frosted with more chocolate. A very nice ending to a simple dinner of sloppy joes, chips, and salad.